An individual dispute is nor that arises between the employer and one or more workers or apprentices individually, and relates to the interpretation or enforcement of the terms of a Labour contract or apprenticeship contract, or the provisions of a collective agreement as well as regulations or laws in effect.

Prior to any judicial action, an individual dispute can be referred for an preliminary conciliation, at the initiative of one of the parties, to the Labour Inspector of his province or municipality.

On the receipt of the complaint, the Labour Inspector shall require from both parties on the nature of the dispute and then shall attempt to conciliate the parties on the basis of relevant laws, regulations, collective agreements, or the individual labour contract.

To this effect, the Labour Inspector shall set a hearing that is to take place within three weeks at the latest upon receipt of the compliant.

The parties can be assisted or represented at the hearing.

The results of the conciliations shall be contained in an official report written by the Labour Inspector, starting whether there was agreement or non-conciliation.

The shall be signed by the Labour Inspector and by the parties, who receive a certified copy.

An agreement made before the Labour Inspector is enforceable by law.

In case of non-conciliation, the interested party can file a complaint in a court of competent jurisdiction within two months, otherwise the litigation will be lapsed.

A collective labour disputes that arises between one or more employer and a certain number of their staff over working conditions, the exercise of the recognized right of the professional organizations, the recognition of professional organizations within the enterprise, and issue regarding relations between employers and workers, and this dispute could jeopardize the effective operation of the enterprise or social peace.

If there is no planned settlement procedure in collective agreement, the parties shall communicate the collective labour dispute the labour Inspector of their province or municipality. However, the Labour Inspector can take legal conciliation proceedings upon learning of the collective labour dispute even though he has not been officially notified.

The Minister in charge of Labour shall designate a conciliation within forty-eight hours from the moments he is apprised or himself learns of the dispute.

Conciliation shall be carried out within fifteen days from designation by the Minister in charge of Labour. It can be renewed only by joint request of the parties to the dispute.

During the period of conciliation, the parties to the dispute must abstain from taking any measure of conflict. They must attend all meeting to which the conciliation calls them. Unjustified absence from any such meeting is punishable by a fine set in the rules of Chapter XVI.

A conciliatory agreement, signed by the parties and visaed by the parties and visaed by the conciliator, has the same force and effect of a collective agreement between the parties and the persons and they represent. However, when the party representing worker Is not a trade union, the agreement is neither binding such union nor on the workers it represents.

In the absence of an agreement, the conciliation shall record and indicate the key points where the conciliations failed and shall prepare a report on the dispute. The conciliation shall send such record and report to the Minster in charge of Labour within forty-eight hours at the latest after the conclusion of conciliation.

If conciliation fails, the labour dispute shall be referred to settle:

a) If any arbitration procedure set out in the collective agreement, if there
is such a procedure; or

b) by any other procedure agreed on by all the parties to the disputes; or

c) by the arbitration procedure provided for in this Section.

In a case covered by paragraph c) of Article 309 above, the Minister in charge of Labour shall refer the case refer to the Council of Arbitration within three days following the receipt of the report from the conciliation as specified in Article 308 above.

The council of Arbitration must inevitably meet within three days following the receipt of the case.

Member of the Council of Arbitration shall be chosen from among magistrates, members of the Labour Advisory Committee, and generally from among prominent figures know for their moral qualities and their competence in economic and social matters. These persons shall be included on a list prepared each year by a Prakas of the Ministry in charge of Labour.

The Council of Arbitration has no duty to examine issue other than those specified in the non-conciliation report or matters, which arise from events subsequence to the report, that are the direct consequence of the current dispute.

The Council of Arbitration legally decides on disputes concerning the interpretation and enforcement of law or regulations or of collective agreement

The Council of Arbitration has the considerable power to investigate the economic situation of the enterprises and the social situation of the workers involved in the dispute.

The Council has the power to make all inquiries into the enterprise or the professional organizations, as well as the power to require the parties to present any document or economic, accounting, statistical, financial, or administrative information that would be useful in accomplishing its mission. The Council may also solicit the assistance of experts.

Member of the Council of Arbitration must keep the professional confidentially regarding the information and documents provided to them for examination, and for any facts that come to their attention while carrying out their mission.
All sessions of the Council of Arbitration shall be held behind closed doors.

Within fifteen days starting from the date of its receipt of the case, the Council of Arbitration shall communicates its decision to the Minster in charge of Labour.
The Minister shall immediately manage to notify the parties. The latter have the right to appeal this arbitral decision by informing the Minister by registered mail or by any other reliable method within eight calendar days from the date of receiving the notification.

The final arbitral decision which was not appealed by either party shall be implemented immediately.

The arbitral decision which was already implemented shall be filed and registered the same way that a collective agreement is.

The reports on conciliation agreements and arbitral decision, which have not been appealed, shall be posted in the workplace of the enterprise involved in the dispute and in the office of the relevant provincial and municipal Labour Inspectorate.

The procedure for conciliation and arbitration shall be carried out free of chare.

The Ministry in charge of Labour shall issue a Prkas to determine the mode of enforcement of the present section.

A strike is concerted work stoppage by a group of workers that takes place within an enterprise or establishment for the purpose of obtaining the satisfaction for their demand from the employer as a condition of their return to work.

A lockout is a total or partial closing of an enterprise or establishment by the employer during a labour dispute.

The right to strike and to a lockout are guaranteed. It can be exercised by one of the parties to a dispute in the event of rejecting the arbitral decision.

The to strike can also be exercised when the exercised when the Council of Arbitration has not rendered or informed of its arbitration decision within the time periods prescribed in Chapter XII.

It can also be exercised, in a general manner, to defend the economic and socio-occupational interest of workers.

The rights of strike can be exercised only when all peaceful methods for setting the dispute with the employer have already been tired out.

The right to strike cannot be exercised when the collective dispute results from the interpretation of a juridical rule originating from the existing law, or the collective agreement, or the rule relating to an arbitral decision accepted by the concerned parties.

It also cannot be exercised for the purpose of revising a collective agreement or reversing an arbitral decision accepted by the parties, when the agreement or the decision has not yet expired.

The right to a lockout shall be exercised under the same provision as the rights to strike.

A strike shall be declared according to the procedures set out in the union’s statues, which must state that the decision to strike is adopted by secret ballot.

A. strike must be preceded by prior notice of at least seven working days and be filed with the enterprise or establishment. If the strike affects an industry or a sector of activity, the prior notice must be filed with the corresponding employer’s
Association, if any. The prior notice must precisely specify the demands which constitute the reasons for the strike.

The prior notice must also be sent to the Ministry in charge of Labour.

During the period of prior notice, the Minister in charge of Labour shall actively seek all means to conciliate between the parties to dispute, including soliciting the collaboration of other relevant ministries. The parties are required to be present at the summons of the Minister in charge of Labour.

During the period of prior, the parties to the dispute are required to attend the meeting in order to arrange the minimum service in the enterprise where the strike is taking place so that protection of the facility installations and equipment of the enterprise will be assured. If there is no agreement between the parties, the Ministry in charge of Labour shall determine the minimum service in question.

A worker who is required to provide minimum service by this Article and who does not appear for such work is considered guilty of serious misconduct.

If the strike attics an essential service, namely an interruption of such a service would endanger or be harmful to the life, safety, or health of all or part of population, the prior notice mentioned I Article 324 shall be extended to a minimum of fifteen working days.

During the period of such prior notice, the Minister in charge of Labour shall determine the minimum essential service to be maintained so as not to endanger the life, health or safety of persons affected by the strike. The worker’s union that has declared the strike shall be asked to give its views as to which service to be maintained.

A worker who is required to provide the minimum essential service covered by this Article and who does not appear for such work is considered guilty of serious misconduct.

The list of enterprise that provide essential services in the sense of Article 328 shall be established by a Prakas of the Ministry in charge of Labour. All disputes concerning the qualification for an essential service shall be settled by the Labour Court, or in the absence of a Labour Court, by a general court.

A strike must be peaceful. Committing violent acts during a strike is considered to be serious misconduct that could be punished, including work suspension or disciplinary layoff.

Freedom of work for non-strikers shall be protected against all from of coercin or threat.

A strike suspends the labour contract. During a strike, the allowance for work is not provided and the salary is not paid.

The worker shall be reinstated in his job at the end of the strike.

The mandate of worker’s representatives shall not be suspended during the strike so that they can maintain contact with representative of the employer.

The employer is prohibited from imposing any sanction on a worker because of his participation in a strike. Such sanction shall be nullified and the employer shall be punishable by a fine in the amount set in Article 369 of Chapter XVI.

During a strike, the employer is prohibited from recruiting new workers for a replacement for the strikes except to maintain minimum service provided for in Article 326 and 328 if the workers who are required to provide such service do not appear for work. Any violation of this rule obligates the employer to pay the salaries of the striking workers for the duration of the strike.

A lockout undertaken in violation of these provisions obligates the employer to pay the workers for each day of work lost thereby.

Illegal strikes are those that do not comply with the procedures set out in this hapter.

Non-peaceful strikes are also illegal.

The Labour Court or, in the absence of the Labour Court, the general court, has sole jurisdiction to determine the legality or illegality of a strike.

If the strike is declared illegal, the strikers must return to work within forty-eight hours from the time when this judgment is issued. A worker who, without valid reason, fails to return to work by the end of this period is considered guilty of serious misconduct.